Hiking to Extremes
Jun 8th, 2009 by DavePF
Racing through the Sahara desert in temperatures up to 130 degrees took Dr. Douglas Girling six days to finish.
Just a few months later he went up to the Arctic Circle for and non-stop 120 mile footrace. A challenge not many would dare try. The conditions were harsh and cold. It was so cold that Girling thought he would freeze to death if he ever stopped even to eat and drink.
Dr. Douglas Girling was the kind of man who likes to see how far he can go in extreme conditions. Since he was at a very young, Girling had travelled to the US from South Africa where he was born to compete in triathlons. His interest in the physiology behind exercise led him to pursue a career in medicine.
Even after being married for 20 years with two kids, Girling, had never stopped running. It was October last year when he decided to go for the Sahara race along with his brother, Malcolm, and some friends. They had to run in the blistering heat carrying food and camping gear
The pain was intense but the desert was so beautiful that it was worth it. When Girling finished the race, he had run for 34 hours and 46 minutes. He felt great and his bond with his brother and friends strenghtened.
Come March, he was running again but this time in a polar race which took place in Canada’s Yukon and Northwest Territories on the Dempster Highway where the temperature at the time was around -40 degrees. It was so cold that his shoes froze solid soon after he began. The strong winds made matters worse.
He hauled a wheeled sled with a -40 degree down sleeping bag, a bivvy, a stove and some extra clothes. On his desert run, he had carried a lightweight backpack, alcohol stove, camping mat, inflatable pillow, foam flip-flops, and lycra gaiter to keep the sand out of his shoes.
It was worse than the desert. He had only run 3 miles when he realized that he had never felt such pain before. His hands froze in seconds the first time he tried to get a water bottle. What a relief it must have been to eat and sleep in the occasional sheltered checkpoints.
It was a test of his will to survive. He ran in a nylon vapor barrier liner over synthetic long underwear plus booties and head coverings. On one occasion, Girling had to stick a plastic tube into his mouth to prevent his balaclava from freezing solid.
Despite the pain, he managed to finish up to the third of four checkpoints in 48 hours, 57 minutes including four hours of sleep. Sixteen others gave up, half even before the first checkpoint.
His daring adventures had given him a first-hand experience on being out in extreme conditions. It was the closest thing to being in a survival situation without getting himself into a lot of trouble.
While Girling hasn’t given up on adventure challenges, he’s had enough of arctic running. It was the toughest race he had even ran. His next target is the jungle race in the Amazon.
